Nissan's car manufacturing plant in Sunderland, northern England, which employs 7,000, is "unsustainable" if Britain leaves the European Union without a trade deal, it said on Wednesday. Ashwani Gupta, the Japanese company's global chief operating head, told the BBC its commitment to the car plant, the United Kingdom's largest, could not be maintained if there was no tariff-free access to the bloc. The EU is the biggest market for the factory, which made just under 350,000 vehicles last year and builds the Qashqai, Juke and Leaf models.

Nissan Motor Co has estimated the closure of its plants in Barcelona could cost up to around 1.5 billion euros ($1.7 billion), a union source told Reuters on Monday. A Nissan spokesman declined to comment. The decision to leave Barcelona was announced by the Japanese carmaker last week as part of a turnaround plan, triggering protests by workers and a commitment by Madrid to do all it can to convince the company to stay.

The Japanese government has guaranteed almost a third of the 7l3 billion yen ($6.65 billion) in loans Nissan Motor Co has secured from its main lenders to weather the COVID-19 pandemic, according to three people with knowledge of the plans. The automaker, seeking to return to profitability and stop bleeding cash, has secured 350 billion yen from its biggest lender, Mizuho Financial Group, of which 200 billion is backed by the state, the sources told Reuters on Friday. Among other lenders, the Development Bank of Japan will loan 180 billion yen, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group will lend 120 billion yen, the people said on condition of anonymity as the information is not public.

Spain said on Thursday it would do everything possible to stop Nissan from closing its main car factory in the country as angry workers burned tyres and shouted "War" outside the Barcelona plant. The decision by Japan's Nissan Motor Co earlier on Thursday to shut the 3,000-worker plant from December as part of global cost cuts is a blow for the euro zone's fourth-largest economy at a time when unemployment is rising and a recession is looming due to the coronavirus crisis. The government, which said in January after meeting officials from the Renault-Nissan alliance that jobs at the plant were "guaranteed," lamented the decision and urged Nissan to look at other options.

Nissan Motor Co has agreed to settle a long-running dispute with the Indian state of Tamil Nadu after claiming it was owed 50 billion rupees ($660 million) in unpaid dues and damages, six sources told Reuters. As part of the settlement, the Japanese automaker is expected to receive between 14 billion rupees ($185 million) and 18 billion rupees ($238 million), two sources aware of the matter said. The dispute arose after Nissan said Tamil Nadu hadn't paid certain incentives under a 2008 agreement to set up a car plant in the southern state.

Nissan Motor Co <7201.T> has agreed to settle a long-running dispute with the Indian state of Tamil Nadu after claiming it was owed 50 billion rupees in unpaid dues and damages, six sources told Reuters. As part of the settlement, the Japanese automaker is expected to receive between 14 billion rupees ($185 million) and 18 billion rupees ($238 million), two sources aware of the matter said. The dispute arose after Nissan said Tamil Nadu hadn't paid certain incentives under a 2008 agreement to set up a car plant in the southern state.

Nissan Motor Co's cash situation is "tough" as the coronavirus has sapped car sales, and the automaker must be vigilant in the coming months as a second wave of infections may add to liquidity issues, CEO Makoto Uchida told Reuters on Thursday. "With the coronavirus situation, our cash liquidity is quite tough," Uchida told Reuters in an video interview after the automaker announced its latest recovery plan, while adding that he believed the virus situation would improve from the third quarter.

French carmaker Renault said on Thursday that losses at its Japanese partner Nissan, in which it has a 43% stake, would drag on its on net earnings by 3.6 billion euro ($3.96 billion) in the first quarter. Renault, which posted its first net loss in a decade in 2019, has like Nissan been struggling with faltering sales, a slide exacerbated this year by the coronavirus pandemic. Nissan posted an annual operating loss of 40.5 billion yen ($376 million) for the year to March 31, its worst performance since 2008/09, while net losses came in at 671.2 billion yen.

Japan's top eight automakers together posted a decline of 54.4% in April sales, according to a Reuters calculation. Toyota Motor's worldwide sales including units Daihatsu and Hino fell 45% to 472,703 vehicles - the fourth straight month of declines. Toyota's performance was dragged down by a 51% slump in sales outside Japan.

Japan's top eight automakers together posted a decline of 50.1% in April sales, according to a Reuters calculation. Toyota Motor's <7203.T> worldwide sales including units Daihatsu and Hino <7205.T> fell 45% to 472,703 vehicles - the fourth straight month of declines. Toyota's performance was dragged down by a 51% slump in sales outside Japan.

Nissan Motor Co <7201.T> outlined a new plan on Thursday to become a smaller, more efficient carmaker after the coronavirus pandemic exacerbated a slide in profitability that culminated in its first annual loss in 11 years. It will shut plants in Spain and Indonesia, leave the South Korean market and pull its Datsun brand from Russia as part of a strategy unveiled on Wednesday to share production globally with its partners Renault <RENA.PA> and Mitsubishi Motors <7211.T>. "I will make every effort to return Nissan to a growth path," Nissan Chief Executive Makoto Uchida said, adding that the company had learned from its past mistakes of chasing global market share at all costs.

Nissan Motor Co <7201.T> said on Thursday it would slash its production capacity by a fifth to help reduce its fixed costs by 300 billion yen (2.27 billion pounds) as it looks to become a smaller, more cost-efficient automaker following a slide in sales. The announcement came after Nissan posted an operating loss of 40.5 billion yen ($376 million) for the year ended March, its first loss in 11 years.

Japan's Nissan Motor Co <7201.T> has decided to close its factory in Barcelona, resulting in the loss of about 3,000 jobs as part of a worldwide restructuring plan, the Spanish government said on Thursday. The move is a blow for Spain at a time when unemployment is increasing, with a steep recession looming because of the coronavirus crisis. The government, which had said in January after a meeting with leaders from Renault and Nissan that jobs at the Barcelona plant were "guaranteed," urged the Japanese carmaker to look at other options for the Barcelona plant.

Nissan Motor Co <7201.T> unveiled a plan to become a smaller, more cost-efficient automaker on Thursday as it looks to recover from four years of tumbling profits that culminated in its first annual loss in 11 years. Nissan is aiming for a 5% operating profit margin and global market share of 6% under what is its second recovery plan in less than a year. Nissan posted an annual operating loss of 40.5 billion yen for the year to March 31, its worst performance since 2008/09.

The automaking alliance of Renault SA, Nissan Motor Co and Mitsubishi Motors Corp outlined a new strategy on Wednesday whereby the strongest partner takes the lead in areas such as new technologies and parts procurement. Under it, the alliance member with the strongest position in a market, product or technology will spearhead the group's efforts there, with the others supporting. Almost half of the alliance's vehicle lineup will be produced under the scheme by 2025, it said.

Since its founding in 1999, the partnership between Renault and Nissan was dominated by its leader, Carlos Ghosn. As Renault, Nissan and junior partner Mitsubishi repair their alliance, they are under pressure to recover from two years of falling vehicle sales, a problem exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.

Renault, Nissan Motor Co and Mitsubishi Motors Corp ruled out a merger on Wednesday and doubled down on a plan to cooperate more closely on car production to save costs and salvage their troubled alliance. The companies have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic just as they were trying to rework their partnership following the arrest of its chief architect, Carlos Ghosn, who had been pushing for a merger despite stiff resistance from Nissan. The new plan, which entails cutting the alliance's vehicle ranges by a fifth, pooling manufacturing by region and capitalising on joint designs, is meant to serve as a peace treaty, sources have told Reuters.